American Film Market Launches Producers Forum, 2013 Conference Slate

The American Film Market will launch its first AFM Producers Forum during the confab held November 6-13 in Santa Monica. Experienced producers can take part in the forum’s 16 educational sessions on a variety of topics held daily followed by private networking receptions. Concurrently the AFM Conference Series running November 8-12 will cover topics including finance, pitch, production, and marketing and distribution with focus on crowd-funding, crowd-sourcing audiences, film festivals, video on demand and more. AFM also announced today the creation of a 2,000 square foot Japan Pavilion by Japan External Trade Organization and UniJapan.

Here’s the rundown of AFM 2013 Conferences:

Friday, November 8
Finance Conference
Leading CEOs, filmmakers, financiers and studio executives converge to explore the state of independent film financing, new opportunities and incentives, emerging trends, where the money is, and what the future promises.

Saturday, November 9
Pitch Conference
A good pitch can get a bad film made and a bad pitch can leave a terrific project languishing on the shelf. Pitching is part art (it’s creative), part science (it needs to follow a tight script) and part salesmanship. Conference attendees will first learn the essential rules and tools of pitching from the experts. Then, volunteers selected in advance (you?) will pitch to a panel of Hollywood decision makers. They will give unvarnished feedback on each pitch – explaining what worked, what didn’t – and why.

Sunday, November 10
Production Conference
 First Session – High Concept, Low Budget
Big ideas don’t have to mean big budgets. High concept doesn’t have to result in high costs. Producers, directors and creative department heads share their secrets for enhancing production values utilizing new (and old!) tools and techniques without blockbuster budgets or compromising vision.

 Second Session – Crowd Funding
Established producers, directors and talent are joining the early adopters, bringing Crowd Funding closer to fulfilling its promise. Industry trendsetters who have successfully funded their projects reveal key tactics, warn about pitfalls, and explain how they did it.

Monday, November 11
Marketing Conference
 First Session – Crowd Sourcing Your Audience
“Who is your audience?” This is one of the first questions financiers and distributors ask producers when considering a new project. Today, producers of modestly budgeted films must not only know who their audience is but they have to know how to help deliver that audience.Successful producers are using social media to aggregate potential audiences – before and during production. Discover the latest tools for independent filmmakers and new ways to find, build and activate your audience.

 Second Session – Film Festivals: Demystified
Once considered the Holy Grail, getting a film into one of the world’s 4,000+ festivals is now a fairly common sales, promotion or launch strategy. The challenge for today’s filmmakers is matching their film with the right festival at the right time in a rapidly evolving landscape.Festival programmers, PR specialists, sales agents and acquisition executives reveal how to select a festival, avoid the pitfalls and ensure that a festival acceptance really does achieve your goals.

Tuesday, November 12
Distribution Conference
 First Session – Video On Demand 2014
Video On Demand will soon be the primary source of revenue for independent filmmakers. Like the excitement of the gold rush, many envision a future when all films are available worldwide and every film finds its audience. Distributors, producers and platforms will come together and share who the players are, how shifting windows are creating opportunities, and where the audience discovery process is headed. They will separate fact from fiction – disclosing who is making money, how they are doing it and what the future holds.

 Second Session – Limited & Specialty Releases
What are niche distributors really looking for in independent films? How can you enhance those elements in your films to increase your chance of a theatrical release? A full spectrum of acquisition priorities and release strategies will be explored.